SETS responds to clearly documented skills gaps among social economy organisations and their service providers in the twin green and digital transition. The project designed and tested a modular training offer combining advanced digital skills, transversal competences and impact management, with 70 participants completing 100 courses across several European and African countries. The Impact Report shows that learners reported significant improvements in advanced digital skills (3.5 out of 5) and transversal competences (4.14 out of 5), with particularly strong gains in contexts (such as Benin) where training offers are limited. The Social Return on Investment analysis estimates that each euro invested generated €1.57 in social value, most of it linked to economic and organisational development, technological upgrading and improved access to quality education. At the same time, the evaluation highlights that these positive effects emerge within a relatively short pilot period, which makes the documented outcomes particularly noteworthy but also underscores the need for sustained follow-up.
The Impact Report distinguishes clearly between individual learning outcomes and organisational change. Participants describe concrete improvements in their capacity to use digital tools, structure projects, collaborate across teams and reflect on social impact, and some have already applied new methods in areas such as communication, data management and service design. However, organisational routines, internal processes and governance structures change more slowly and remain constrained by limited staff time, scarce resources and informal management practices. Differences across geographies are also evident: French and Slovenian organisations tend to operate in more structured ecosystems with existing support instruments, while African participants, particularly in Benin, often face an almost complete absence of comparable training opportunities. In these contexts, SETS functions as both an introduction to key concepts and a catalyst for experimentation, especially around artificial intelligence and digital applications for service delivery. This diversity of starting points confirms that a one-size-fits-all model is not appropriate and that policy support must be sensitive to maturity levels and institutional environments.
On this basis, the report proposes a set of policy recommendations that connect the empirical findings of SETS with concrete national and European levers. The recommendations are structured along four dimensions that proved decisive in the pilots: strategic positioning of SETS-type training within evolving skills agendas; design and content of programmes, including the use of competence frameworks; delivery, pedagogy and follow-up, with an emphasis on practice-oriented learning; and ecosystem uptake and organisational support, including financing and coordination mechanisms. For Slovenia and France, the report translates these dimensions into country-specific priorities that reflect the different stages of ecosystem development and the distinct configurations of institutions and funding tools. At European level, it identifies opportunities to embed SETS-type programmes within existing frameworks such as Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, ESF+ and the Transition Pathway for Proximity and Social Economy, while reinforcing links to competence frameworks like DigComp, EntreComp, GreenComp and emerging socio-economic competence models. The overarching message is that skills initiatives for the social economy should move from isolated, short-term courses towards integrated, evidence-based strategies that combine individual upskilling with organisational transformation and long-term sustainability.
